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Bee forage check

How good is this spot for honey bees?

Enter an address or tap the map. You'll see which bee plants and crops are within flight range (about 3.7 miles, with nearer land counting more), when the honey flow comes and when there's a dearth, nearby water, a few things worth checking, and how the spot ranks against random sites in your state and across the country.

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The colors are the national forage map: every square kilometer of the lower 48, scored the same way. See the honey flow for your state and town, the best and worst spots we found, or how the scoring works.

Forage report for 36.1830, -77.2242

Estimated forage here is better than about 83% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it stands out most in summer (96th percentile) and lowest in spring (13th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); cotton (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 81st percentile (spring 75th, summer 82nd, fall 34th)
  • North Carolina: 83rd percentile (spring 13th, summer 96th, fall 74th)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 75th percentile (spring 35th, summer 82nd, fall 74th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across North Carolina, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Feb 1 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: May 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans, Cotton
  • Fall flow: Aug 16 to Aug 31 — Cotton
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 206 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 514 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 67 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 119 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Cotton: about 39 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 264 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jun

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Cotton, Soybeans; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Cotton, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Cotton, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Cotton: insecticides used on about 39% of surveyed US acres (2025). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.
  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

An estimate from public maps (USDA crop maps 2021-2025 averaged, LANDFIRE vegetation), not a survey of the ground. Maps can't see garden plantings, understory density, other beekeepers' hives, or this year's weather. Honey composition is a nectar-source estimate, not a pollen analysis. Benchmark 2026.5. How this works.